Opposition party lawmakers from the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have demanded that a meeting of the House of Representatives’ State Affairs and Good Governance Committee be convened to discuss the audio recording attributed to Inam Sapkota.
NCP Chief Whip Yuvaraj Dulal and RPP parliamentary party leader Gyanendra Shahi, both members of the committee, have sent letters to committee chair Hari Dhakal demanding that a meeting be called.
“Given serious questions surrounding how the audio recording allegedly involving Inam Sapkota, who is in police custody, was leaked, and the basis for its link to a Facebook status posted by Kumar Ben, the prime minister’s chief adviser, as well as concerns over journalists being arrested and released while the government claims to have no knowledge of the matter, it is the responsibility of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee to summon the home minister and the inspector general of police (IGP), seek answers, and hold the government accountable. I therefore demand that a meeting be called without delay,” Dulal stated in his letter to the committee chairperson.
Shahi also demanded that the committee convene a meeting.
“The apparent friction between the IGP and the government, the arrests of journalists, and the presence of mobile phones belonging to a person in custody at the residence of Kumar Ben, the prime minister’s adviser, are serious and concerning developments,” Shahi said. "I urge that a meeting be called immediately for discussions and necessary investigations on these issues, which directly concern the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee."
The committee last met on September 24. However, Chairman Dhakal has not called another meeting despite more than a month having passed.
Along with Dulal and Shahi, former prime minister and NCP Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe, and CPN-UML deputy parliamentary party leader Padma Aryal are also members of the committee.
The lawmakers have urged both the committee chairman and committee secretary to call a meeting.
Of the 10 committees in the House of Representatives, nine are chaired by lawmakers from the RSP.
The committee’s jurisdiction covers the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, constitutional bodies, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense. However, Prime Minister Shah has not attended any of the committee’s meetings so far. Home Minister Sudan Gurung’s attendance at the committee meetings has also been very sparse.
